Google AI Overviews now appear on most branded searches
Google is now showing AI Overviews on the large majority of branded searches, according to two separate datasets that agree on the end point but not the size of the jump. DemandSphere recorded AI Overviews on 26.12% of the branded queries it tracks on September 1, rising to 90.48% on September 27 and sitting at 82.06% on September 29, the last day in its data. Ahrefs, looking only at US desktop results, put the rate at 65.1% in August and 82.91% on September 29.
Chris Long, co-founder of Nectiv, flagged the shift on X on September 30 after finding AI Overviews for 93 of the 100 enterprise brands he tested. Barry Schwartz of Search Engine Roundtable checked several brands himself and saw the same pattern, with the exceptions of Google's own name and news publications. Google has not announced any change to how it handles branded queries.
DemandSphere's daily figures did not climb in a straight line. The rate jumped to 57.43% on September 18, fell back to 31.15% the next day, and moved between roughly 30% and 57% for another week before reaching 69.21% on September 26 and staying high. Because Google has not said whether the change is complete, the rate could still move.
The shift matters because branded searches have traditionally been a predictable part of the customer journey, with people already looking for a specific company or product. An AI Overview now sits alongside the brand's own site and familiar results, so holding the top organic position no longer shows the whole picture. Marketers need to know whether their brand appears in the generated answer, how Google describes it, which sources support the response, and whether competitors are named alongside it.
One caveat applies to the DemandSphere numbers: they measured whether an AI Overview appeared for a branded search, not whether the brand itself was cited in the answer. What those overviews actually say about each brand is a separate question.
Reported by Semrush Blog ↗
Topics: AI Overviews, Google Search, Measurement